Did you know that 40 percent of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball has players who have served time in Major League Baseball? Among the pack is Long Island Ducks’ third basemen Brendan Harris. The former big leaguer signed with the Ducks on May 16th and since then has been the everyday third basemen. Harris has been enjoying his time with the Ducks so far and has really stepped up in the second half, a time when the Ducks are vying for a fourth consecutive postseason trip.
“So far so good” Harris said of his time with the Long Island team. “It’s a great ballpark, a great place to play with a big fan base here and it’s a good experience.” The first year Duck leads the team in walks with 48 and has reached base safely in 32 of his last 33 games since July 1. He has earned a hit in 26 of those games and walked 21 times in that span. Harris is also batting .289 with 4 home runs, 29 runs batted in, 12 doubles, and 73 hits in 71 games. Harris had originally been placed in the middle of the order since he was acquired, but has been an on-base machine since sliding in the number two hole.
The 33-year-old veteran spent eight years in the major league, from 2004 to 2010 and has played with six different teams. Harris’ best year in the MLB came with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007 where he batted .286, launched 12 homers, driven in 59 runs, 149 hits, and 35 two baggers in 137 games played. set a career high in almost every offensive category. Brendan Harris started the year with the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple A squad in Albuquerque, where he went 5 for 15 with one RBI and one run in six games. Last season, he appeared in 44 games with the Los Angeles Angels and went deep four times, driven in nine runs, and smacked four doubles. He also played in 34 games with time split between the New York Yankees Triple A team in Scranton/Wilkes Barre and Texas Rangers Triple A Round Rock.
Harris was drafted by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. With all that experience, Harris felt the difference between playing in the Atlantic League and the Majors is that there’s more that goes into the game every day and it plays out like an event. From the scouting reports and spray charts to video to even preparation, there is more information but at the same time, it’s still baseball. “Sometimes I think with the majors in their shifts and sabermetrics, they tend to overdo it a little bit” he explained. “What I love about here is that you literally just go out and play and have fun in a serious way but without all the extraneous stuff.”
Harris stressed that staying healthy and keeping his body in shape is what played a factor in his game this season. “I don’t want to try to play injured again where I kind of crunched my legs sliding into a double play” said Harris. “It took about 10 days to two weeks to feel normal again where I could play but it kind of hindered me. Since I’ve been healthy, I’ve been feeling pretty fine.” One area Harris seeks to improve on is continuing to drive the ball in the gap, where he has been successful in the past and done so 12 times with the Ducks this year. “I haven’t really been able to hit as many doubles as I usually do” said Harris. “Lately, I’ve been kind of back spinning balls and getting more extension. I felt better in that respect.” Along with Lew Ford and Bill Hall, Brendan Harris brings big league experience to the Ducks and is always there to lend a hand to the younger guys in the clubhouse with approaches at the plate. “I try to just kind of get a routine, prepare every day and be professional and set an example if I can. I can help anybody with at bats and what approaches you take, what you’re looking for, how a pitcher is trying to set you up and go from there.” The Long Island Ducks are 11-20 in the second half and are sitting nine games out of first place in the Liberty Division and four and a half games back in the wild card standings. If they are to stay in the race, they need to put up run support, especially with guys on base, for their impressive starting rotation.
“We’re hitting, but we’re not scoring runs. We need to string together a couple of big innings and help out our pitchers by playing with the lead.” said Harris. “Our pitchers are throwing well and constantly in these 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 games in the ninth. We left a lot of base runners out there and could be a two, three, four run advantage, but we haven’t been able to tack on those extra runs.” With Harris playing well both offensively and defensively, the Ducks are banking on the former big leaguer to be that spark they need to make another deep run to three-peat as Atlantic League champs.
